Tales of the West
by Blackheart214
Summary: Its FFX wild west style. I'm not good with summaries. Read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Basically it's Final Fantasy X with an old western theme. Their will be saloons, high noon quick draw duels, whores, and whore houses, and all the other good stuff we've seen from successful western films like The Quick and the Dead and Wild Wild West.**

**Disclaimer: No ownership over Final Fantasy X is implied.**

_**Tales of the West**_

**Chapter1: Stranded**

The Bikanel Desert was ablaze in the scorching heat of the sun. The heat had dried up what little water was left. Anyone traveling the desert without a quick mode of transportation our nourishment would most surely die.

Someone however, was barely holding on. He had tan skin, and dirty blonde hair. He wore a white shirt that was stained from sweat and dirt, brown trousers, and boots that were worn from the walking. His name was Tidus. His body was slouched over from exhaustion and he hard time keeping his head up. It wouldn't matter anyway, his vision was hazy from the heat. He had been wandering the desert for almost an entire day. Though, his suffering was entirely his fault.

The day before, he was in the city of Zanarkand. He was playing cards at the local saloon. He had beaten almost every person in the room and took most of their money. Until, one shady customer showed up. The man laid his gil on the table and challenged Tidus to game of Poker. Tidus accepted, for he never back down from a chance to beat someone at poker. In the end, the man had a straight in diamonds and Tidus had a Royal Flush, making him the winner. The man however didn't take to kindly to losing. When Tidus left the saloon, the man and his posse jumped him. They bound and gagged him and tied him to a chocobo and sent it off running into the desert. The chocobo had of course died from the heat and now, Tidus was stranded in the desert.

He didn't even know where he was going. He had never been outside of Zanarkand, he was born and raised there. Tidus lived alone in the city now. His mother died when he was seven and his father… well Tidus didn't care for his father, in fact he absolutely hated him. His father, Jecht, was mean to him as a kid. Tidus didn't even believe his father had ever once told him that he loved him. Just thinking about him made him angry. His anger faded when he snapped back to reality and realized he was still in the middle of nowhere.

He also noticed every thing getting fuzzy. He started to feel light headed and had a time standing up. Finally his legs gave out and he fell to the ground. He tried to get back up but, his body wouldn't respond. He laid there, the hot sun beating down on him. He vision began to fade. Before everything went black he thought he saw a pair of black boots surrounded by red appear in front of him. He thought it was just his eyes playing tricks on him and then closed them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note****: You may notice in this chapter that when I'm describing the way the characters are dressed it wont be the same look from the game. Everyone in this story will be wearing 19****th**** century clothing.**

**Chapter 2: Welcome To Besaid**

When Tidus opened his eyes, he thought he was dead. He thought that there was no way he could possibly have survived the desert and that he was know in the heavens. His thought soon faded however when he realized he wasn't in the heavens, he was lying in a bed. He quickly sat up and attempted to get his bearings.

He noticed he was in small room. There was a nightstand aside his bed some cups of water. He grabbed them and downed the contents of the cups one by one. He desperately needed some water and the cups that were left for him made him feel much better. Still, he wondered who left the cups and where he was.

"Hello" he called out but, received no answer. His first thought was that he was back in Zanarkand. Someone noticed he was missing and went searching for him. Realizing standing around in the room was going to get him no answers, he decided to take a look around.

He left the room and stepped into a hallway. He saw that there were doors that led to other rooms. He came to the conclusion that he was in a hotel. At the end of the hall there was a staircase that went down. As he drew closer he heard the sounds of people talking and music playing. He went down the stairs and saw the source of the noises.

It was a saloon. The place was filled with people. There were people playing cards, drinking ale and whiskey, others having conversation amongst themselves, and some were flirting with women… scantily clad women. Some wore gowns, others wore small, and some were hardly wearing anything at all. He figured this place also operated as a whorehouse.

"HEY KID" he heard someone call him. He saw that it was a woman standing by the bar. She had black hair that covered most of the left side of her face and was also in a bun that had several decorated pins in it with five braided ponytails, her eyes were light brown, and her lips were colored with purple lipstick. Tidus also noticed she was dressed rather indecently. She was wearing a black corset with no sleeves that revealed quite a bit of cleavage and a dress that didn't cover her front and knee high boots with heels.

He thought maybe she could tell him where he was so, he walked over to her.

"Uh, who are you, where am I" he asked as he, unintentionally of course, glanced downward at her chest.

"My name is Lulu, owner of the Mi'ihen Saloon, the finest saloon in Besaid, and I'd appreciate it if you would not look at my chest".

_Its not like you make it easy _Tidus thought adverting his gaze. "Sorry. My name is Tidus by the way. But, wait you said Besaid"?

"Yes. You've never heard of it"?

"I've heard of it but, I've never been here".

"Where are you from"?

"Zanarkand. I was ambushed and left to die in the desert. How did I get here anyway, the last thing I remember was collapssing in the desert" he said trying to recollect what had happened to him the day before.

"A man carried you in here. Said he found lying on the ground half-dead and told me to take care of you until you came to".

"Who"?

"A man named Auron" she told him.

"Oh, well where is he"?

"Not sure. Auron comes and goes, he'll come back".

"Oh… anyway do you know how I can get home"?

"All the way to Zanarkand!? There is no way. No one can survive a journey that long through the Bikanel desert".

"So how am I supposed to get back" he asked getting panicked.

"There's a railroad that's getting built through the center of town. It comes all the way from Bevelle".

"Is it being built towards Zanarkand" Tidus asked getting hopeful. Lulu nodded. "Okay, how long will it take"?

"It took the railroad ten years to get from Bevelle to here".

"TEN YEARS"?!

"Don't worry that was a long time ago. It shouldn't take them no more than a year or two to finish".

"So, what am I supposed to do till then"?

"Well, Auron told me to take care of you so, I'll give you a room at a discount".

"Thanks. How much"?

"One hundred gil a week". That wasn't so bad but then Tidus realized he had no money and his face fell.

"Don't worry, Auron already paid for your first week. That should give you plenty of time to find work"

Tidus's face brightened up. That was one problem off his back for now.

"Until then, get yourself cleaned up, you're mess".

Tidus examined himself. Indeed he was filthy. His body and clothes were covered in stains of sweat and dirt. A bath sounded good to him right about now.

"There's a washroom upstairs. I'll have some new clothes ready for you when you're finished".

"Thanks". With that he headed upstairs. As he made his way to the washroom he did some thinking. He wondered if he would ever see Zanarkand again, how he would survive in a place he had never been in, who was this Auron that had saved him, and what he was going to do for money. He only had a week to solve one of these problems but, it shouldn't be too hard, even though he had never worked a day in his life and made his living through card games but, how hard could it be?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Looking for Work**

It had been six days since Tidus woke up in the Mi'hen Saloon. Six days since Lulu told him he needed to find a job in order to stay at the Saloon. This proved to be no easy task.

Besaid was actually a place that thrived on many businesses. There was the blacksmiths, pawn shops, tailors, chocobo express, stables, butchers, bakeries, Al Bhed laundries, and much more. The problem was: no those places would hire Tidus. Everyone in Besaid was a hard worker and to them Tidus was just a city boy that was afraid to get his hands dirty. He had tried everything even undesirable jobs. There was Undertaking but, in order to be good at it you had to love the dead in a sense of materialism. He even tried to work on the railroad. Mostly it was to oversee production of his one ticket back home and shorten the time it took to finish it. The only problem was that it was a slaves' job, only the Al Bhed could do it. He asked Lulu for a job but she said she was doing enough by letting him stay and giving him a discount. He couldn't even make any money playing cards because he had no money to bet with. And there still wasn't any sign of the man named Auron.

His time was up. Tomorrow he would be thrown out on his ass. He had one option left: go to Lulu for a job and this time he would beg.

He went downstairs into the saloon. Lulu was behind the bar cleaning glasses. It was dusk so the saloon was nearly full. He stepped to the bar and began his plea.

"Lulu, can I please hav-"

"No" she interrupted. That was the end of that. Tidus found out in a very short time that Lulu was a firm woman. With that, Tidus turned to leave and enjoy his last night in a bed.

Just then the doors to the saloon doors burst open. Two men barged in. They looked rather shady. Their clothes were filthy, their faces were dirty and unshaven, and their skin was greasy. Tidus had seen people like this before in Zanarkand. They were usually either harmless drunks or bandits. Tidus could see the six-shooters on their belts so, he figured they were the latter.

Tidus looked to Lulu to make sure she could handle this. She gave him a reassuring nod and a look that said "don't make any sudden moves".

One of the men went to the bar. Lulu looked away from Tidus and went to serve him.

"Welcome to the Mi'hen, what can get you"?

"I'll take some whiskey and whatever you got under them clothes" the man said with a dirty look in his eye.

"How about I get you a whiskey and forget you just said that" Lulu said with a little frost in her voice. She turned around to get his drink and then she felt a hand slap her behind. She turned around and gave the man a cold glare.

"I think you better leave" Lulu said now fully agitated. The man obviously couldn't take a hint. He jumped over the bar and move closer to Lulu.

"You're a feisty one… I like that" he said with lust. Tidus couldn't take anymore.

"Leave her alone" Tidus said from his spot by the stairs.

The man and his friend looked over to him. They looked him over for a few seconds and mocking grins grew on their faces. The other man walked over to Tidus.

"Do you know who we are boy"?

"Village idiots" Tidus said with sly smirk. The man then pulled out his revolver.

"You a wise ass boy? Hey Jimma we got us a wise ass here" he shouted over to his friend who turned his attention away from Lulu.

"Oh, really? Well Bobba, why don't you show'em what we do to wise a-" he was cut off when a bottle was cracked over the back of his head by Lulu. Bobba turned around and saw his comrade on the floor and then pointed his gun at Lulu.

"You bitch" he said with a sneer. He pulled the hammer on the gun back and was prepared to fire. Tidus took this opportunity and grabbed a nearby chair. He lifted it over his head and and brought down as hard as he could. The chair crashed onto Bobba's head and broke into pieces. Bobba fell to the floor unconscious.

"You alright" Tidus asked Lulu.

"I'm fine".

"Hey Jimma. What the hells taking you two so long" asked a voice from outside. The voice belonged to another man. He wore clothing similar to the other two. Tidus thought the three must have been part a gang. His thought were confirmed when the man called out to his friends outside after seeing Jimma and Bobba on the floor.

"Grab his gun" Lulu shouted to Tidus.

"What"!?

"The gun"! Tidus did as he was told and grabbed Bobba's gun off the floor. Then, six men came through the saloon doors, all of them carrying weapons. One fired a shot into the air and then everybody in the saloon panicked. Some left the saloon, others looked for places to hide. Lulu ducked under the bar and only Tidus was left out in the open. Two of the men made their way over to him. He didn't know what to do. If he fired the gun they would have shot him to pieces, if he ran they would have shot him to pieces. Tidus looked to the bar. Lulu was still hidden. So much for her help.

Just then, she surprised him. Lulu popped up from behind the bar with a Remington rifle and fired at the two men close to Tidus. They fell to the ground dead. Tidus took this chance to make a run for the bar. The men fired but, luckily they missed him. He dived over the counter and took cover.

"You know how to use that thing" Lulu asked, reloading her Remington. Tidus nodded yes. "Then start shooting" she said after finishing reloading. She popped up and fired a couple more shots at the bandits, who now took cover behind knocked over tables and barrels.

Tidus was reluctant about the whole situation. He had used a gun before but, he never actually killed a person. Still, there wasn't anything he could do at this point and besides if he stopped these guys maybe Lulu would let him stay a little longer.

He lifted his head slightly from behind the counter, trying to find his targets. Lulu had already taken care of two of them so that left only four. One was behind a barrel by the wall, two were behind and over-turned table, and one was taking cover behind a support beam.

Now that he knew where they were he was ready. Everything seemed to slow down as he stood up and pulled back the hammer of the revolver. First he fired at the one behind the barrel. The bullet went right through the barrel and right into the bandits head. Then in one swift motion he moved his arm and aimed at the two behind the table. In two seconds he managed to fire to shots through the table, both being head shots. The last one was a little tricky. The bullet wouldn't be able to go through the thick wood of the support beam. So instead, he aimed at the metal frame on the one behind it and fired. The bullet hit the metal of the support beam and ricocheted backwards into the back of the last bandits neck. He fell to ground, gurgling blood as he died.

The whole thing happened in six seconds. Lulu stood up from behind the bar amazed and impressed at what had just happened and stared at Tidus as he lowered his gun.

"That was amazing" she said awestruck.

Before Tidus could respond a loud voice yelled from outside.

"SO YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE OUT MY GANG AND WALK AWAY!? WELL THEN, COME OUT HERE AND LETS FINISH THIS… IF YOU GOT THE BALLS" the voice finished in a mocking tone. Tidus presumed him to be the leader of the men he just killed.

"Looks like he challenging you to a quick draw duel" Lulu said calmly.

"Should I go"?

"Well, the whole towns out there waiting to see one, so yes". Tidus sighed. He didn't want to kill another person but, a quick draw duel was not something you could walk away from. It was the ultimate test of manhood and if you didn't take it you would be branded a pathetic womanly loser. So, with reluctance he walked out side. The moon was shining brightly enough for Tidus to see that the townspeople were indeed waiting for a showdown. He could also see his opponent. He looked like the other men he had from the saloon only he wore a tattered soldiers' uniform.

Tidus took a few steps to the center of the street, directly across from his opponent. They stood there silently for what seemed like an eternity. Everyone was watching, even Lulu. Both men had there hand by there guns waiting for the first hint of movement. A light breeze went by as both of stood stone stiff. Then went it passed, in one second a shot went off. The entire town stared wide eyed. Tidus and the bandit both had their guns raised but only Tidus's had smoke coming out of it. The bandit then fell to the ground clutching the spot where the bullet had entered his body. Tidus had decided against killing him and merely wounded him. The man however didn't take kindly to losing and aimed his gun back at Tidus. Tidus saw this and quickly shot the gun out of the man's hand with his last bullet. The man finally fell to the ground defeated and humiliated.

The people cheered for Tidus. He basked in the glory until he saw someone approach him. It was a man. He had bright orange hair and small stubble on his chin. He wore a dark brown leather vest with white buttoned-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up underneath, and some brown trousers with some back boots. Tidus took notice of the star shaped badge the said "Sherrif". He was also very well built and he was grinning at Tidus.

"Goddamn kid! That was quit a show" he said still grinning.

"You to here to arrest me" Tidus asked flatly.

"Hell no! I wanna hire you"! This made Tidus go wide eyed. "Names' Wakka".

"I'm Tidus". He then saw Lulu storming up to Wakka.

"Where the hell were you Wakka!? These guys nearly tore my place apart" she said angrily. "Huh, huh" she said as she repeatedly shoved him back.

"Whoa Lu , calm down! I didn't know what was going on until I heard that there was quick draw duel happening" he said as he backed away from the angry barmaid. "Glad I showed up, this kids got aim" he said turning his attention back to Tidus. "You just took out one of the most wanted men in Besaid! Theres a bounty on his head worth one thousand gil"! Tidus's eyes went wide again. One thousand gil would be more than enough to let him stay at the saloon. What was even better was that he was being offered a job.

"I could use a guy like you around here to help keep the peace. You interested" he asked as he pulled out a deputy's badge and held it out to Tidus. Tidus took it almost immediately and pinned it to his shirt. Wakka held out his hand and Tidus shook it happily.

"So when can I collect my bounty"?

"Oh, I got it right here" Wakka said as he pulled a small sack full of gil from his pouch. Tidus took and and then handed it to Lulu.

"Here Lulu. Take as much as you need to repair the saloon"

"Well after that you'll be able to keep your room for two more weeks" she said with a smile.

"Rest up man, you start tomorrow at the crack of dawn" Wakka said as he headed back to the Sherrif's office.

Tidus nodded in understanding and went back inside the saloon with Lulu. It was great. He had saved his landlords' saloon, gained respect from the townspeople, stopped a wanted man, and got a job, as an enforcer of the law no less! Maybe staying in Besaid wouldn't be so bad after all.

**Wow, this is the longest chapter I've ever written! The origin behind Tidus's shooting skills will be revealed in the next chapter.**

**R&R please.**


	4. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

This story is currently being rewritten. I apologize to anyone who has read this or story-alerted it. I'll be posting the first chapter of the rewritten version soon.


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